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Happy birthday Evan James Cosenza!

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Colder temperatures, sunny skies predicted this weekend

<p>It&#8217;s been a long five-year journey for coach Philip Mercatili and his Wyoming Seminary teams.</p><p>Back in 2012, the year before Mercatili took over as head coach, the Blue Knights were basement dwellers in districts swimming and diving. Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s girls were 14th out of 17 teams. The boys finished 11th out of 15 programs, finishing behind Meyers and Holy Cross teams that did not even officially field varsity competition outside of districts.</p><p>The pinnacle of the Blue Knights&#8217; transformation will be on display this weekend as both the boys and girls teams are the presumptive favorites for the District 2 Class 2A swimming championships Friday and Saturday. Competition begins at noon both days at the Wyoming Valley Catholic Youth Center in Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>The District 2-4 Class 3A regional competition will follow at 6 p.m. both days.</p><p>It&#8217;s been 14 years since Wyoming Seminary was poised to contend for a boys&#8217; district title &#8211; when Mercatili was suiting up to swim the 200-yard medley as a senior in 2003. Looking to emulate his success are Marcos Rico, Matt Bean and Stanley Zaneski, all of whom are seeded first in their respective events. Together, Wyoming Seminary comes in with the top seed time in eight of the 11 events.</p><p>Rico has as comfortable of a cushion as you could expect between he and the No. 2 seed. He holds a 4.79-second advantage over Holy Redeemer senior and defending state medalist Nick Dubinski in the 100 breast. His lead over teammate Yonah Wasik in the 200 IM is a blink-of-an-eye under 10 seconds.</p><p>Zaneski transferred down to Class 2A after a pair of regional gold medals at Wyoming Valley West. He will have tough competition from Western Wayne&#8217;s Ben Hollister in the 50 free. His 100-free time of 47.56 seconds sets him apart from the field.</p><p>Bean will hope to repeat in the 100 back with a seed time that is 47-hundreths faster than last year&#8217;s winning time.</p><p>Likely, it will be a tougher road for the Blue Knights in the girls race. Wyoming Seminary is favored in both of the free relays. April Kupsky is slated to join her sisters Tara and Paige with a gold medal with a seed time (5:16.2) that is 17 seconds ahead of the rest. Haley Their hopes to shave her 59-second flat time in the 100 fly to get to the top of the podium.</p><p>In Class 3A, Wyoming Valley West has been pining to repeat as regional champions in boys and girls. The Spartans have big expectations with nine of the 11 top slots in the boys&#8217; field. Wallenpaupack and Delaware Valley will be tough to beat in girls, but Alexis Ivanitch and Chelsea Mackiewicz are two of the region&#8217;s quickest.</p><p>The top finisher in boys 2A, boys 3A and girls 3A punch a ticket to states. In 2A girls, first and second place swimmers get automatic bids.</p><p>Here are the stories to watch for at the District 2 Swimming Championships:</p><p><strong>Early Lead</strong></p><p>Thanks to taking four of the top five diving spots, Dallas holds an astounding 51-point lead over Scranton Prep and Wyoming Seminary &#8211; just enough to make the Mountaineers a contender in the team standings. With already three individual and two relay championships, junior Annalise Cheshire is pegged for first in the 50 free and 100 free races that she won as a freshman and sophomore, respectively.</p><p><strong>Royal dark horse</strong></p><p>Holy Redeemer&#8217;s Margaret Walting looks for her breakout performance as a No. 2 seed in both the 100 breast and 50 free, the latter of which she trails Cheshire by a tenth of a second. With the depth supplied by McKenna Zeller, Kayla Kruk and Emily Blaum, the Royals could earning several spots to Lewisburg.</p><p><strong>Lloyd Christmas</strong></p><p>Berwick has been sneaky good this season, and the seedings only emphasize the point. Sydney Lloyd is primed for trip to Bucknell with her 2:01.5 seed that sits second in the 200 free. Becca Decker, Kylie Levan and Mia Doll will team with Lloyd to make a splash in the relays.</p><p><strong>Record smashing</strong></p><p>If all goes as planned, Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Alexis Ivanitch will leave the pool Saturday with another district record to go with her &#8211; count &#8216;em &#8211; fifth individual gold. Ivanitch is nearly two seconds faster than her 100 breast and will be the hands-on favorite to get her third straight title in the event. She&#8217;ll have to shave four seconds if she wants a shot at the 200 IM record. Teammate Chelsea Mackiewicz is the top seed in the 50 free.</p><p><strong>Mahling it in</strong></p><p>The Class 2A competition will be exceptionally fast this weekend, and standing out from the crowd will be Holy Redeemer&#8217;s Adam Mahler. Mahler holds a 5.79-second cushion in the 200 free. He&#8217;ll have to hold off a fleet of Prep and Sem swimmers to repeat his 100 fly title in what will sure to be the most thrilling race of the weekend. Nick Dubinski will need a quick-enough time in the 100 breast for a chance to repeat his state medal.</p><p><strong>Trohawks&#8217; debut</strong></p><p>The Nanticoke-Hanover Area collaborative may churn out its first medal winner &#8211; and possibly state qualifier &#8211; in Christopher Cabonilas. He&#8217;s seeded third in the 200 IM with a 2:07.06. Cabonilas also sits fourth with a 1:05.25 in the 100 breast.</p><p><strong>Poised for a repeat</strong></p><p>Coach Frank Tribendis has his ducks in a row with nine Wyoming Valley West swimmers and relays in the top seeds. Josh Zawatski hopes to return the 50 and 100 free titles back to his family after his brother Eddie swept them from 2012-15. Maxim Kowalski is in position for his first title in the 200 IM, and Logan Fluegel can qualify for states in the 100 back and 100 fly. Zac Rosencrans is the defending winner in the 100 breast.</p><p><strong>Still an underdog</strong></p><p>Hazleton Area&#8217;s Jorge Moncayo shocked the natatorium last year when he won the 200 IM by four seconds as an underdog. Can he come out on top in a three-way battle for first in the event this year? Moncayo also stands less than a second shy of Logal Fluegel in the 100 fly.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Alexis Ivanitch is the heavy favorite to win the 100 breast, which would be her third straight title in the event. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_stateswimming01.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Alexis Ivanitch is the heavy favorite to win the 100 breast, which would be her third straight title in the event. </caption0><photoCredit0>Pete G. Wilcox file photo | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_TTL030516DistrictsSwimming-2A_spt_3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Tara Kupsky, along with her sisters April and Paige are favorites to win both free relays at the District 2 Swimming Class 2A Championships. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_TTL030516DistrictsSwimming-2A_spt_3.jpg</photo1><caption1>Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Tara Kupsky, along with her sisters April and Paige are favorites to win both free relays at the District 2 Swimming Class 2A Championships. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis file photo | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Sem boys striving for 1st D2 title in 14 years</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jay Monahan</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p>The District 2 Swimming Championships will kick off with on Friday with Class 2A competition starting at noon and Class 3A beginning at 6 p.m.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @tlsports.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

WVC swimmers poised for success at District 2 Swimming Championships